WEBVTT 00:00:00.799 --> 00:00:03.040 Father, we thank you that you speak to us in 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:05.740 your word. We ask, Father, that this morning 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:09.500 you would help us to see how awesome, how wonderful, 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:14.119 how beautiful your grace is. And we ask this 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:21.420 in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, Greg 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:26.019 and Jasmine both go to the same church. It's 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:29.699 a nice little church. And at church, they sing 00:00:29.699 --> 00:00:34.719 songs like we do. And on one Sunday, they decide 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:38.880 that they're singing Amazing Grace, that wonderful 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:43.060 hymn. And as Greg sings, he stands there and 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:47.179 he gets tingles on the back of his neck. Oh, 00:00:47.420 --> 00:00:52.240 yes. Grace is amazing. Praise God. He's just 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:58.450 so overjoyed. But as Jasmine sings... She feels 00:00:58.450 --> 00:01:07.290 numb. I wish Grace felt amazing again. And her 00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:12.489 mind starts to wonder, what's for lunch? She 00:01:12.489 --> 00:01:17.629 just drifts off. Now how did the same song elicit 00:01:17.629 --> 00:01:21.769 such different responses? What made each of them 00:01:21.769 --> 00:01:27.049 react so differently? Well, for Greg, he became 00:01:27.049 --> 00:01:31.090 a Christian six months ago. His decision to follow 00:01:31.090 --> 00:01:34.310 Jesus was unlike any other. He goes, it's the 00:01:34.310 --> 00:01:38.890 best decision I've ever made. He has received 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:43.090 a profoundly deep joy, confidence and enthusiasm 00:01:43.090 --> 00:01:46.250 since he started trusting in God's grace. He's 00:01:46.250 --> 00:01:49.409 been blown away by it. I mean, he feels like 00:01:49.409 --> 00:01:52.469 he won the lottery. He's got the same energy 00:01:52.469 --> 00:01:55.620 as those people who are in Toyota ads. you know, 00:01:55.799 --> 00:02:00.659 oh what a feeling, like that Jesus died for his 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:03.620 wrongs, that God loves him even when he didn't 00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:06.780 deserve it, that he's got a new family in his 00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:09.139 church of believers, a new hope that one day 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:12.500 he'll have life forever. Greg is so thankful 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:17.460 and it drives everything he does. He wants to 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:19.860 become more and more loving. He's regular at 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:21.560 church. He's joined a growth group. He wants 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.479 to learn everything he can about God's grace. 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:28.520 He serves at church and he tells people at his 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:31.340 workplace about Jesus because he wants everybody 00:02:31.340 --> 00:02:36.479 to know about God's grace. It's so good. But 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.939 Jasmine's been a Christian for 20 years now. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:45.319 And she used to feel like Greg. But lately God's 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:50.639 grace has lost its glossiness, its shine. It 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:54.699 feels kind of dull and boring. I mean, she knows 00:02:54.699 --> 00:02:57.400 a lot about God's grace and she could probably 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:01.919 explain it to you better than Greg can. But right 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:06.080 now for Jasmine, life is really hard. Her marriage 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:11.099 is tense. Her kids are challenging. Money's really 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:14.020 tight at the moment. and right now work is a 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:15.879 nightmare. She's got that co -worker who just 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:17.960 keeps stabbing her in the back and she's trying 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:21.780 not to stab back. She doesn't tell her friends 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:26.000 at work about God's grace because she just doesn't 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.099 know what to say anymore and doesn't have the 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:31.379 enthusiasm to want to. She'd rather just keep 00:03:31.379 --> 00:03:34.840 her head down and get through the day. Actually 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.300 for Jasmine she's starting to envy her friends. 00:03:39.310 --> 00:03:42.069 One of her friends just got divorced and she's 00:03:42.069 --> 00:03:44.490 doing the whole eat pray love adventure thing 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:47.650 and She thinks yeah, I want that I want that 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:53.150 freedom grace It just feels blah What good is 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:56.469 it? It doesn't help with my problems. What has 00:03:56.469 --> 00:04:02.430 God's grace done for me lately? Now this morning 00:04:02.430 --> 00:04:07.729 I want to ask What do you do if grace stops feeling 00:04:07.729 --> 00:04:12.680 amazing? What do you do if grace starts to feel 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:17.459 more and more dull? Well, I think our passage 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:21.800 today shows us what we do and reminds us how 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:25.240 incredible God's grace is. Here's the big thing 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:29.180 I hope you take away from today. Grace feels 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:33.399 amazing when you stop to appreciate its beauty. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:38.459 Grace feels amazing when you stop to appreciate 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:41.920 its beauty. And here's what I'm praying will 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:45.420 happen for each of you today. If you're here 00:04:45.420 --> 00:04:47.740 today and you're a Christian, I hope you'll be 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:50.600 reminded of why God's grace is so amazing. I 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:53.720 hope you walk out that door overjoyed because 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:59.120 you've seen how good God's grace is. If you're 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:01.399 a Christian, but you're in a deep rut like Jasmine, 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.399 and you might have similar struggles to her or 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:07.750 different ones, I hope today you'll walk out 00:05:07.750 --> 00:05:10.850 that door and you'll feel rich delight around 00:05:10.850 --> 00:05:13.490 God's grace again. I hope that this passage will 00:05:13.490 --> 00:05:17.569 pull you out of that rut. And if you're not yet 00:05:17.569 --> 00:05:22.930 a Christian, I hope you, just like Greg, will 00:05:22.930 --> 00:05:27.329 see how incredibly wonderful God's grace is so 00:05:27.329 --> 00:05:29.889 that you can embrace it and take hold of it for 00:05:29.889 --> 00:05:34.990 yourself. So grace feels amazing when you stop 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:38.490 to appreciate its beauty. But what's so amazing 00:05:38.490 --> 00:05:42.110 and beautiful about God's grace? Well, there's 00:05:42.110 --> 00:05:44.129 three things we need to see from our passage. 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:50.250 We were hopelessly lost. God met our every need 00:05:50.250 --> 00:05:55.170 and all of this was undeserved. So let's look 00:05:55.170 --> 00:06:01.100 at the first one. We were hopelessly lost. Here's 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:04.420 the thing about the good news of grace. It won't 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:08.560 feel good if we don't see how bad the bad news 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:13.980 of sin really is. Grace won't feel amazing if 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:19.199 we don't see how lost we truly were. How bad 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.819 were things for us? We'll have a look at verses 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:25.660 one to three. It's very bleak, but it's something 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:29.319 we need to hear. It starts with, as for you, 00:06:29.420 --> 00:06:31.920 You were dead in your transgressions and sins 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.600 in which you used to live when you followed the 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:37.379 ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:40.319 of the air, the spirit who is now at work in 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:43.540 those who are disobedient. All of us also lived 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:46.139 among them at one time, gratifying the cravings 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:49.740 of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:54.680 Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of 00:06:54.680 --> 00:07:02.199 wrath. It's bleak. We were dead in our sins. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.680 What's that saying? We were spiritually dead. 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:09.399 We couldn't do anything. We were completely powerless 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:13.980 to save ourselves. I don't know if you've got 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:17.040 any renovations that need doing around the house. 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.100 If you do, you call a handyman, don't you? Or 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:22.019 you fix it yourself. The one thing you don't 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:24.839 do is you don't go to the cemetery. You don't 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:27.279 go to the cemetery and go, oh, well, I'll ask 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:29.480 one of the dead people there to fix some things 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:32.980 up at home for me. I mean, corpses, have you 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:34.819 ever thought about, they can't even bury themselves, 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:40.720 can they? They're very unhelpful. And that's 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.199 what this passage is driving home to us. We were 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:47.660 spiritually dead. We can't do anything. We can't 00:07:47.660 --> 00:07:51.120 even lift a finger to help ourselves and save 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:57.180 ourselves. But not only that, in verse two and 00:07:57.180 --> 00:08:00.720 three, we see that we were slave to Satan's rule. 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:05.500 Did you see it there? We used to live when we 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:07.399 followed the ways of the world and the rule of 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.720 the kingdom of the air, the spirit who's now 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:12.500 at work in those who are disobedient. All of 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:15.459 us also lived among them at one time, gratifying 00:08:15.459 --> 00:08:20.759 the cravings of our flesh. Do you know, what's 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:23.949 it mean to be demonic? Does it mean that you 00:08:23.949 --> 00:08:26.930 sit there with a Ouija board and pentagrams? 00:08:27.449 --> 00:08:31.189 I mean, that's one way. But this passage is saying 00:08:31.189 --> 00:08:34.549 to us, if you are demonic, you're someone who, 00:08:34.730 --> 00:08:36.950 you could be someone who works hard in a white 00:08:36.950 --> 00:08:39.529 collar job, you love your wife and kids, you 00:08:39.529 --> 00:08:41.909 kiss your wife goodbye as you go off to work, 00:08:42.230 --> 00:08:44.789 you do very well in your job, you act fairly 00:08:44.789 --> 00:08:50.279 kindly and nicely to people and honest. and you 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:53.080 drive home and you don't road rage on the road, 00:08:54.500 --> 00:09:00.879 but you live your life ignoring God. That's satanic. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.440 You do what you want. It might even be fairly 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:08.700 aligned with some Christian values, but you do 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:13.059 what you want following your desires, your sinful 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:17.580 desires. You're actually under Satan's rule. 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:26.500 And because we're all like this, we are justly 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:30.779 facing a collision course with God's wrath. Do 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:34.379 you see it in verse three? We're following its 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:36.299 desires and thoughts like the rest we were by 00:09:36.299 --> 00:09:42.000 nature deserving of wrath. Because we've spent 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.700 our lives ignoring God, we've taken the crown 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:46.720 off God's head and put it on our own and said, 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:49.919 I'm in charge. I mean, that's a coup against 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:54.320 the creator of the universe. And because of that, 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:59.679 we're facing judgment. We're facing eternal agony. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:06.320 It's awful. And Jesus doesn't mince His words. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.879 He says it's awful. I mean, in the gospels, He 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:11.960 talks about how it's better to amputate a piece 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.840 of your body if it causes you to sin than to 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:20.970 go into judgment. I mean, in the Gospels he uses 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:23.990 metaphors that can barely describe how awful 00:10:23.990 --> 00:10:34.450 this judgment will be. It's awful. In Enfield, 00:10:34.470 --> 00:10:39.029 Connecticut in 1741, revival broke out. And it 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:41.570 broke out as a preacher named Jonathan Edwards 00:10:41.570 --> 00:10:44.889 preached a sermon called, Sinners in the Hands 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:49.389 of an Angry God. It's a famous sermon. It's got 00:10:49.389 --> 00:10:53.549 a vivid description in it that humans, sinners, 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:57.190 that we're like spiders dangling from a flimsy 00:10:57.190 --> 00:11:00.669 web and God is like a man who picks up that web 00:11:00.669 --> 00:11:03.610 wanting to rid his house of such creatures and 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:05.990 he picks up the web and he carries the spider 00:11:05.990 --> 00:11:09.529 over to the fire. We had a mouse in our toilet 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:11.409 the other day so I can kind of resonate with 00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:14.570 that. You don't want stuff like that in your 00:11:14.570 --> 00:11:19.350 house. But then Edwards makes us feel the weight 00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:23.190 of our situation by describing it like this. 00:11:23.590 --> 00:11:26.210 Here's what he says. Again, these are hard words, 00:11:26.250 --> 00:11:29.470 but they're what we need to hear. He says, Oh 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:31.809 sinner, consider the fearful danger you are in. 00:11:32.070 --> 00:11:34.809 It is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless 00:11:34.809 --> 00:11:37.090 pit, full of the fire of wrath that you were 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:39.529 held over in the hand of that God whose wrath 00:11:39.529 --> 00:11:42.610 is provoked and incensed as much against you 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:45.600 as against many of the damned in hell. You hang 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.039 by a slender thread with the flames of derriere 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.820 and wrath flashing about it and ready every moment 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:54.419 to singe it and burn it asunder and you have 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:57.639 no interest in any mediator and nothing to lay 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:00.500 hold of to save yourself. Nothing to keep off 00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:03.480 the flames of wrath. Nothing of your own. Nothing 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:05.779 that you have ever done. Nothing that you can 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:11.279 do to induce God to spare you one moment. And 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:12.940 then he goes on. You think that's heavy enough. 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:16.320 Look at this. He says, Your wickedness makes 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:22.100 you, as it were, heavy as lead, and to tend downwards 00:12:22.100 --> 00:12:24.679 with great weight and pressure towards hell. 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:27.899 And if God should let you go, you would immediately 00:12:27.899 --> 00:12:31.700 sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:34.600 bottomless gulf. And your healthy constitution 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.500 and your own care and prudence and your best 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:40.179 contravance and all your righteousness would 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:43.740 have no more influence to uphold you and keep 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:46.440 you out of hell than a spider's web would have 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:51.940 to stop a falling rock. It's intense, isn't it? 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.200 It's hard to hear, but it's what we need to hear. 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:00.100 All of us are in that boat. We're all in the 00:13:00.100 --> 00:13:05.620 same boat. If you grew up going to church, If 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.220 you're kinder and more moral than most of your 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:11.000 friends, if you're a Jew or a Gentile, if you're 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.600 from any background, anywhere, no matter what 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.159 you've done, this is you, this is me. This is 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:22.559 what we're all facing because we ignore the creator 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.440 of the universe and try and run our lives without 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:30.460 him in it. Now, if you're hearing this and you 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:32.960 want to instantly write it off and go, Brendan, 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:36.419 that's not true, you know, stop being a fear 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:41.700 monger. I mean, consider this. Have you thought 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:46.700 through the implications? If hell is not true, 00:13:47.779 --> 00:13:50.940 there's no grand justice or purpose in the universe, 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:54.659 is it? I want to ask you, what's the alternative? 00:13:56.659 --> 00:14:00.980 Or consider that we're sinners. I mean, every, 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:03.980 we're people, we know we're We all have a dark 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:07.820 side. One of the things I love that I think is 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:12.220 unique to Christianity is how raw and real Christianity 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:17.139 is about our dark side. If you're sitting there 00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:18.679 and you're going, no, Brendan, I don't want to 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:21.059 hear this stuff. You're a fear mongerer. Please 00:14:21.059 --> 00:14:23.919 don't just write me off. Don't just ghost me. 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:28.879 Come and do coffee with me. Let's talk this stuff 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:35.559 through. It's important. But if you're here today 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.259 and you're a Christian, I've got something for 00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:44.500 you too. Grace won't feel amazing if you can't 00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:51.299 see how lost you were. It just won't. And it's 00:14:51.299 --> 00:14:53.960 so important that we regularly remember what 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:58.460 we were facing. Play it out in your head now 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:03.419 and again. Okay. If God's grace had never interrupted 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:06.360 my life, what would have happened to me? I would 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:08.980 have kept going in my sin and one day I would 00:15:08.980 --> 00:15:11.360 have stood there before Him with no argument, 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:13.899 no plea, and I would have been condemned forever. 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.019 I was following Satan like he was the Pied Piper. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.940 I was following him to hell, to pain that I could 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:28.120 never imagine. And as you remember that, pray. 00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:33.389 Father, help me to see where sin was taking me. 00:15:34.190 --> 00:15:38.649 Help me to see how amazing Your grace is that 00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:44.730 it saved me from all of that. That will make 00:15:44.730 --> 00:15:50.669 grace feel amazing again. But that's not all 00:15:50.669 --> 00:15:55.009 we need to see. We've seen the bad news, but 00:15:55.009 --> 00:15:58.330 here's the good news. We were hopelessly lost, 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:04.580 but... God met every need. Every need. Think 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:07.580 of a Swiss Army knife. What's the deal with a 00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:10.159 Swiss Army knife? Great gift for Father's Day, 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:14.139 if anyone at home is thinking that. It's got 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:16.240 a blade, it's got scissors, it's a bottle opener, 00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:20.379 it's got all the gadgets in it, doesn't it? It's 00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:22.860 like the knife is trying to meet your every need 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:27.059 for every possible situation, isn't it? And God's 00:16:27.059 --> 00:16:31.240 grace is like that. It's a spiritual Swiss army 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:35.320 knife. It meets your every need, no matter who 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:38.779 you are or what you've done. Come with me to 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:44.580 verse four. But, I had a preacher friend of mine 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:46.580 who every time he preached this, he'd always 00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:50.480 say, I like big butts and I cannot lie. This 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.980 is the best butt, isn't it? But because of His 00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:57.679 great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, 00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:01.580 God has done something. When we couldn't do anything, 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:05.220 God took the initiative. He stepped in. He did 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:08.240 something. Because He loved us. And what did 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:11.539 He do? He made us alive with Christ, even when 00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:14.940 we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace 00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:17.859 you have been saved. and God raised us up with 00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:20.000 Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.339 realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.420 ages he might show the incomparable riches of 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:30.839 his grace express in his kindness to us in Christ 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:37.700 Jesus. Now, did you spot the connections that 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:41.519 these verses had with the previous three verses 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:46.390 that we looked at? See, we had all these needs. 00:17:46.450 --> 00:17:48.930 We were hopelessly lost but God has met our every 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:51.589 need. So here's what they were. We were dead 00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:55.910 in our sins and what did God do? He made us alive 00:17:55.910 --> 00:17:59.509 with Christ. We were following the ruler of the 00:17:59.509 --> 00:18:04.589 air. We were slaves to Satan's lies but now we're 00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:08.829 seated in the heavenly realms. Why seated? Well 00:18:08.829 --> 00:18:11.269 because when you're sitting on a throne that's 00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:14.359 what you do isn't it? Jesus is sitting on the 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:16.180 throne. And you sit down when you're done, don't 00:18:16.180 --> 00:18:18.900 you? Well, Jesus has done His work. He died on 00:18:18.900 --> 00:18:21.839 the cross to save us. It's done. It's paid for. 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:24.420 That's why He's seated in the heavenly realms. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:27.839 And then we were deserving of wrath. We were 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.339 on a collision course with God's wrath. That's 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:34.680 what we were facing. God's judgment. But now 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:38.599 we look forward to incomparable riches. Riches 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:41.640 so good that they don't compare with anything. 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:48.619 that we have in this world. God has been unimaginably 00:18:48.619 --> 00:18:52.460 kind and generous to us. He's provided for our 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:57.000 every spiritual need. And He did it by uniting 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:01.740 us to Christ. What happened to Jesus happens 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:07.460 to us. We were dead, but we've had a spiritual 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:10.660 resurrection. We're made alive. We were under 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:13.099 Satan's rule. Now we're seated with just like 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:17.940 Jesus is spiritually and when Jesus experienced 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:21.819 wrath for us, but he's going to experience incomparable 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:25.420 riches on that day of judgment and so are we. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:29.819 God saved us when we couldn't save ourselves 00:19:29.819 --> 00:19:36.980 because he united us to Christ. When we lived 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:40.180 in Geraldton years ago, we were a couple of hours 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:43.460 from Kalbarri National Park, an amazing national 00:19:43.460 --> 00:19:46.480 park. But now and again, you'd hear of people 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:48.940 getting lost out there. Some would even die. 00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:52.619 And it was wonderful when you'd hear the good 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:56.180 news that someone who was lost had been rescued. 00:19:57.339 --> 00:19:59.059 Here's what it looks like. It's a beautiful place. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.039 In 2017, I remember reading about two women who 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.680 got lost out there without food or water. And 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.240 emergency services found them the next day. They 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.140 were cold, but they were found. They had the 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:16.059 police helicopter scanning over, looking for 00:20:16.059 --> 00:20:19.140 them. And what do you think they did when they 00:20:19.140 --> 00:20:21.940 found them? Do you think they just put them in 00:20:21.940 --> 00:20:27.309 the helicopter and took them back? No. I bet 00:20:27.309 --> 00:20:29.390 they were cold, so they would have put a blanket 00:20:29.390 --> 00:20:32.329 on them. They would have been thirsty and hungry, 00:20:32.369 --> 00:20:34.230 so they would have given them a bottle of water 00:20:34.230 --> 00:20:37.549 and a snack. They would have done everything 00:20:37.549 --> 00:20:41.849 to meet a whole range of their needs. Because 00:20:41.849 --> 00:20:45.910 that's what good rescuers do, don't they? And 00:20:45.910 --> 00:20:50.480 it's the same with God's rescue by grace. It's 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:53.859 not just that Jesus bore our punishment and took 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:57.299 our sins on himself and took God's wrath on himself 00:20:57.299 --> 00:21:02.180 It's that he made us alive. It's that he raised 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:09.500 us up. It's that he gives us future riches You 00:21:09.500 --> 00:21:13.680 know grace stops feeling amazing when you lose 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:19.460 sight of what you have Our gaze can get so focused 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:23.440 on pain and problems we have now that we forget 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:27.000 to stop and smell the spiritual roses once in 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:31.940 a while. We've got to be good, like consistent 00:21:31.940 --> 00:21:35.460 and solid at looking at how much God has given 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:41.079 us. Consider the cost of the cross and consider 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:43.579 all the wonderful benefits that the cross has 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:47.470 brought you. Think about how different your life 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:52.009 is now. How wonderful eternity will be because 00:21:52.009 --> 00:21:58.190 of what Jesus has done. And do that every week. 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:02.529 Actually, not even every week, every day. We 00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:06.650 should gaze at what we have and thank God for 00:22:06.650 --> 00:22:10.509 it. Let me ask you, when will you do that in 00:22:10.509 --> 00:22:15.069 your day? Have you got a set time? that you try 00:22:15.069 --> 00:22:17.529 and go, yes, I'm just gonna spend, even if it's 00:22:17.529 --> 00:22:20.650 five minutes, I'm just gonna spend time thinking 00:22:20.650 --> 00:22:24.390 about God's grace and how much I have because 00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:29.849 of it. Maybe you wanna put it in your calendar 00:22:29.849 --> 00:22:34.250 now, I don't know. But there's one more aspect 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:37.170 to grace that we need to see if we're gonna see 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:40.650 and feel how amazing it is. And here's the last 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:44.349 one. God met our every need. after we were hopelessly 00:22:44.349 --> 00:22:48.609 lost. But here's the thing, all of this was undeserved. 00:22:49.349 --> 00:22:53.069 All of it was undeserved. Come with me to verse 00:22:53.069 --> 00:22:57.289 eight. For it is by grace you have been saved, 00:22:57.950 --> 00:23:01.490 through faith. And this is not from yourselves. 00:23:01.569 --> 00:23:04.509 It is the gift of God, not by works, not by your 00:23:04.509 --> 00:23:09.160 performance, so that no one can boast. For we 00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:11.940 are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to 00:23:11.940 --> 00:23:15.279 do good works which God prepared in advance for 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:19.900 us to do So your salvation if you're here and 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.200 you're a Christian and you're saved do you know 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:26.920 who to blame? It's God's fault It's not your 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.400 own doing that includes the salvation the grace 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:34.160 the faith all of it It's God's fault that you're 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:38.920 saved He gets all the credit for saving you You 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.619 didn't earn it. Even the good works you do now 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:45.859 as a response to God's grace. That's what Christians 00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:47.799 should do. We should respond to God's grace and 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:51.880 go, thank you God, I want to please you now by 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:55.539 doing good works. But even that, it's not something 00:23:55.539 --> 00:23:57.640 you earn. It's not that you somehow earn God's 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.759 grace. No, no, that's God's workmanship. You 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.680 know, God's whittled you into something more 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:07.200 and more looking like Jesus because His grace 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:12.599 saved you. We have nothing to brag in or boast 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:16.119 about. Well, actually, that's not true, is it? 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:19.160 There's one thing we have to brag in and boast 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:24.980 about, God's incredible grace. Our best efforts 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:30.960 do nothing, but what a God we have. Salvation 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:36.710 is completely from Him. I don't know if you heard 00:24:36.710 --> 00:24:39.529 about it, but a week ago in California, there 00:24:39.529 --> 00:24:42.589 were conditions out at the beach that were just 00:24:42.589 --> 00:24:47.390 incredibly rough. 10 -foot waves, strong rips, 00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:50.569 and people still went to the beach, of course. 00:24:51.549 --> 00:24:53.890 But there was a 10 -year -old boy out there who 00:24:53.890 --> 00:24:56.690 got knocked over by one of the waves, hit his 00:24:56.690 --> 00:24:59.470 head on the sand, and he got knocked out and 00:24:59.470 --> 00:25:03.299 swept out to sea. And there was a young rookie 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:06.359 lifeguard who was only 16 who saw this happen, 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:11.599 a guy named Ryder Williams. And he swam out and 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:15.680 saved this 10 -year -old boy. Now the 10 -year 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.440 -old boy did nothing, did he? He was a goner 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.700 if it weren't for Ryder. It was someone else 00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:27.640 doing it. It was Ryder willing to put himself 00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:31.700 in harm's way, giving of himself that saved this 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:40.119 little boy. And it's the same for us. God's grace 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:45.180 is all his generosity. It's all unearned. It's 00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:49.779 a gift. It's kindness that cost him. The only 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:54.089 thing we contribute to our salvation is our sin. 00:25:56.490 --> 00:25:59.450 Now, where does this need to land for us? That 00:25:59.450 --> 00:26:04.089 God's grace is undeserved? Well, grace won't 00:26:04.089 --> 00:26:08.450 feel amazing if we believe we're entitled to 00:26:08.450 --> 00:26:11.990 it. Grace won't feel amazing if you believe you're 00:26:11.990 --> 00:26:14.529 entitled to it. One of the reasons Christians 00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:18.710 should daily confess their sins to God is doing 00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:23.089 so keeps you humble. It reminds you that You 00:26:23.089 --> 00:26:27.049 didn't get what you deserved. You got better 00:26:27.049 --> 00:26:32.049 than that. You got mercy and grace. When we stop 00:26:32.049 --> 00:26:35.329 and pause and pray and realise how many sins 00:26:35.329 --> 00:26:39.009 we've done, how even how good works are so tainted 00:26:39.009 --> 00:26:45.069 by selfish motivations. And then we see that 00:26:45.069 --> 00:26:48.650 God has forgiven us and loved us and treated 00:26:48.650 --> 00:26:54.200 us way better than we possibly deserved. It moves 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:57.720 us to gratitude and appreciation, doesn't it? 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:03.160 God gets the credit for my salvation. He loved 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:07.299 me when I didn't deserve it. And I need to keep 00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:15.700 seeing how undeserved His love truly is. All 00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:20.240 right, let's wrap up. We started by asking, What 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:23.279 should we do when grace stops feeling amazing? 00:27:24.619 --> 00:27:29.480 And the answer we saw was this. Grace feels amazing 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:33.960 when you stop to appreciate its beauty. Grace 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:37.680 feels amazing when you stop to appreciate its 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:40.079 beauty. And we looked at three aspects to the 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:44.839 beauty of God's grace. We were hopelessly lost, 00:27:45.779 --> 00:27:51.529 but God met our every need. And all of this was 00:27:51.529 --> 00:27:57.049 undeserved. Okay, but how should this affect 00:27:57.049 --> 00:28:03.589 us? Well, that depends on who you are. Some of 00:28:03.589 --> 00:28:06.789 us here are like Greg prior to his conversion. 00:28:08.690 --> 00:28:12.369 You remember Greg at the start? If you're like 00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:15.230 Greg prior to his conversion, you haven't yet 00:28:15.230 --> 00:28:18.420 received an experience God's forgiveness, love 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:22.539 and grace. And if that's you, come have a chat 00:28:22.539 --> 00:28:24.900 with me. If you've got questions, if you're going, 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:27.599 Brendan, I think you're horrible and I want to 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:29.680 tell you how wrong you are. Okay, cool. Let's 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:33.099 do it over coffee. I'm even happy to do it now. 00:28:33.420 --> 00:28:35.799 Come talk to me. I'd love to talk to you about 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:39.920 it. Don't put it off. Because I reckon this is 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:44.140 if you trust in God's grace, this is the best 00:28:44.140 --> 00:28:48.180 thing that will ever happen to you. Will you 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:51.079 put off something that could change your life 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:57.980 forever? Come have a chat with me. But some of 00:28:57.980 --> 00:29:00.599 you here today are like Greg after his conversion, 00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:04.519 and whether you're new to Christianity and it's 00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:06.599 all recent and you're going, wow, this is amazing, 00:29:06.859 --> 00:29:08.740 or maybe you're an old hand and you've been a 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:11.460 Christian for a long time, but you're still joyful 00:29:11.460 --> 00:29:15.480 and blown away by God's grace. If that's you, 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:18.539 keep plumbing the depths of God's grace. Keep 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:24.039 going. It's inexhaustible. You could spend eternity 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:26.759 mining into God's grace and you'd never reach 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:31.559 the bottom. Don't stop. The more you dig, the 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:35.700 better it gets. And it's so important that you 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:39.539 do. Because you know what drives everything in 00:29:39.539 --> 00:29:45.599 the Christian life? God's grace. What makes a 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.740 Christian praise God authentically and gladly? 00:29:49.660 --> 00:29:53.980 God's grace. What makes a Christian joyfully 00:29:53.980 --> 00:29:58.240 obey God's will? God's grace. They're thankful 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:01.960 for it. What makes a Christian share the gospel 00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:04.400 with their co -workers and with their friends? 00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:07.059 You know, I want you to know about Jesus. I'm 00:30:07.059 --> 00:30:10.579 going to tell you, even if it's awkward, what 00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:14.059 makes them do that is... They see how great God's 00:30:14.059 --> 00:30:20.880 grace is. Grace will strengthen, satisfy, and 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:24.660 drive you. But we need to keep digging into it 00:30:24.660 --> 00:30:30.519 for that to happen. But some of us here are like 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:35.220 Jasmine. We've stopped appreciating the beauty 00:30:35.220 --> 00:30:38.779 and the wonder of God's grace, even though we 00:30:38.779 --> 00:30:43.049 are Christians. And in part it's because life 00:30:43.049 --> 00:30:47.329 is hard and we're tired and frustrated and maybe 00:30:47.329 --> 00:30:49.630 we're hurting about some things going on in our 00:30:49.630 --> 00:30:55.670 life. But the main culprit, if I'm honest, is 00:30:55.670 --> 00:31:00.730 that familiarity has bred contempt. We've taken 00:31:00.730 --> 00:31:05.529 grace for granted. Now what's the solution then? 00:31:05.569 --> 00:31:07.970 If familiarity breeds contempt, should I just 00:31:07.970 --> 00:31:12.670 not be familiar with God's grace? No. The solution 00:31:12.670 --> 00:31:15.750 is to be curious and appreciative of God's grace. 00:31:17.029 --> 00:31:19.650 It's getting more familiar with God's grace, 00:31:19.769 --> 00:31:24.150 but in a positive way, with fresh eyes trying 00:31:24.150 --> 00:31:28.990 to see it again and again. How do you do that? 00:31:30.190 --> 00:31:32.170 Well, I've tried to show you a bit of that today. 00:31:32.430 --> 00:31:34.809 You've got to remember what you were, what you 00:31:34.809 --> 00:31:38.730 were facing. Remember and see what you have and 00:31:38.730 --> 00:31:42.470 also see what it is that you deserve. And try 00:31:42.470 --> 00:31:45.609 and picture and imagine those things. You know, 00:31:45.650 --> 00:31:48.109 God's given us a wonderful gift of imagination. 00:31:49.089 --> 00:31:51.910 Try and think of illustrations and pictures that 00:31:51.910 --> 00:31:58.710 just help you take to heart God's grace. Maybe 00:31:58.710 --> 00:32:02.170 read Ephesians 2, 1 to 10 again and again. Just 00:32:02.170 --> 00:32:03.990 do it for a week. You don't have to, you know, 00:32:04.109 --> 00:32:06.309 okay, well I've read Ephesians 2, 1 to 10 today 00:32:06.309 --> 00:32:08.769 and now I'm going to go to Ephesians 2, 11. No, 00:32:08.769 --> 00:32:11.380 you... You can read the same passage again and 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:15.599 again so it sinks in. Read it slowly, read it 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:22.220 carefully, read it prayerfully. Get regular praying 00:32:22.220 --> 00:32:26.059 to see the beauty of God's grace. Ask God that 00:32:26.059 --> 00:32:29.160 you'd see more of it. Thank God regularly for 00:32:29.160 --> 00:32:33.740 it. Confess your sins to God and give him great 00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:38.630 praise for his forgiveness. And if you're still 00:32:38.630 --> 00:32:41.970 struggling, tell a friend, tell a Christian friend, 00:32:42.109 --> 00:32:44.910 tell your growth group leader, come talk to me. 00:32:47.470 --> 00:32:51.750 But find ways to see grace again with fresh eyes. 00:32:52.789 --> 00:32:54.809 One of my favourites, and I've shared it before, 00:32:55.210 --> 00:32:58.589 is that beautiful book by Tony Reinke, Newton 00:32:58.589 --> 00:33:01.710 on the Christian Life. I love it, it's a good 00:33:01.710 --> 00:33:04.049 one. And I know there's some of you here today 00:33:04.049 --> 00:33:06.569 who've started reading it and are loving it too. 00:33:08.519 --> 00:33:12.240 But don't let yourself stay in a place where 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:18.539 grace feels meh. Take the time to marvel at it, 00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:22.859 to savour it, because nothing is more amazing, 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:28.240 precious, sweet or beautiful. Know it and treasure 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:32.599 it until your heart sings joyfully again. And 00:33:32.599 --> 00:33:35.240 seek to do this all the days of your life until 00:33:35.240 --> 00:33:40.099 you breathe your last breath. I'll close with 00:33:40.099 --> 00:33:47.259 this. John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace, is 00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:52.319 an incredible man with an incredible story. He 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:57.279 was a captain of a slave trading ship. Just like 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:59.200 Stephen talked about, he was dealing with human 00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:03.160 trafficking. And John Newton did some appalling 00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:06.700 evil things. Things that you'd think were unforgivable. 00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:12.940 But in a storm one night, he cried out to God, 00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:15.940 which was just the most unbelievable and amazing 00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:20.480 thing that someone like him would. And God's 00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:22.619 grace saved him. He started reading the Bible. 00:34:22.699 --> 00:34:26.500 He started seeing how loved he was by Jesus. 00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:30.460 And it transformed his life. So much so that 00:34:30.460 --> 00:34:33.039 he wrote not just amazing grace, but so many 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:37.940 other incredible hymns. He became a pastor. He 00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:41.300 started working in the abolishment of the slave 00:34:41.300 --> 00:34:46.619 trade. He did some amazing things. But at the 00:34:46.619 --> 00:34:49.940 heart of it all was that he spent his whole life 00:34:49.940 --> 00:34:55.800 remembering and clinging to God's grace. When 00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:59.340 he was asked what he could still remember is 00:34:59.340 --> 00:35:04.440 his mind started to fade. His last words were, 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:09.360 These two things I still remember. I am a great 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:16.079 sinner, but Christ is a great Saviour. I want 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:22.380 to cherish grace so much till the day I die that 00:35:22.380 --> 00:35:26.679 I can say those same words too. I hope you will 00:35:26.679 --> 00:35:33.000 too. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:37.840 so much for your grace. And we ask, Father, please 00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:41.599 help us to see its beauty, to see its wonder. 00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:46.440 Give us soft hearts that would receive it, cherish 00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:50.280 it, and love it. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:51.480 Amen.